Reading machine



Oct. 6, 1959 H. A. MAUcH READING MACHINE Filed sept. 11, 1957 www 7? BLWv f//s fram/fr III ,fmwn /////7/////// ////////r//////,

///////////WMWWWWWW United States Patent() This invention relates to a reading machine andmore A'particularly toa machine that .translatevisible'print toan audible form. v y

The subject invention is applicable for embodiment in .a reading machine forthe blind and will be particularly .described with reference thereto. vHowever, it will .be readilyobvious .to those versed inthe art that the application 4of the vinventicm Vis not so Ylimited, nor is such in stended. I v. K

Through the years there have been .continuous eorts yto develop machines which would directly :convert printed .material to an .audible form of such vdistinction ,that even .arblind person .could understand the information Eprovided .in .the printed subject matter.v In 19.20 .an Optophon xwas 'developed which synthetically translated Yletters in accordance with their shape. This is what is known :as :a direct translation type reading machine. ln .this type .of machinea photo Aelectric sensing device, usually l.called a stylus, is moved .from Yleft .to right over .a printed -line .to yield electric ,signals lwhich are representative .of the succession :of black and white .as encountered by the Jstylus at `various .levels of each printed symbol. The printed 'letter was :basically deduced .to essentially lie within tive levels. A certain sound frequency Ais `assigned to Leach of the levels and modulated by the photo electric 'sig-nal produced by that level. Thus, in accordance with the portions of the Vletter encountered fbythe stylus ateach ofthe veprescr'ibed levels asitscaus the letter, a mixture! of- 'sound frequencies are vprovided which -varies in its composition: as the stylus scans in a way which nis characteristic of the letter scanned. These sound frequencies bear no phonetic resemblance to English though the .basic structure and sequence ofthe Vprinted matter scanned Ai's retained.y `Thesedirect translation jmachines have proven to be inefficient and diftcultto use since each letterscanned is represented b'ya plurality ofsound signa'ls.v The reading speeds obtainable therewith average no more thanZO to 3.0 words a minute while an acceptable machine should enable nol'ess than sixty words a minute. Eiforts vhave been made to increase thefreading potential of this prior lartrnachine by assigning `the sound frequencies more judiciouslyto the various levels of .a ,letter as .by .adding clicks :and hisses'to the total sound', Eby frequency rather .than amplitude modulation, and by lmany other means thought suitable to .improve ,the distinctivenessof .sound frequencies .and sequences characterizing a letter. The v.result of lthese eiorts Ihave been .disappointing :and there lis little hope that the average reader :can achieve .any `degree of 4satisfactory, .reading `eilciency in emplovingsucha machine-` 2,907,833 VPatented Oct. 6 1959 ICC 2 Attempts have also been made to provide' a `satisfactory recognitionWtype machine -Which translatesprinted matter into recognizable sounds and syllables, but .they

cost of this ltype of machine has .proven .to `be so great asA to be prohibitive. Moreover, its necessary size 4and complexity vrender itimpractical vfor ordinary applications.

ment, fabrication and use of the yprior Aart readingwnra- .chines has made a ,need -for a basically different approach .to the problem self evident Through the pastdecades .the solution Ito this problem 'has escaped the -b'est men in theiield. n

The present invention Vis -believed :lobe Ythe lrst to pro- -vide a practical and .economical approach vtoreadingmachines. Its embodiment lcombines both prior approaches to essentially :provide a .direct translation .machnemoditied to include the Aadvantages .formerly possible `only with highly complex and expensive recognition type machines. Whereas, :on the average, the former .direct translation type machine produced three sounds .per iletter, the .preskent .embodiment clearly ydefines .each :letter: by a single -distinct fsound. .I a.

Analysis of :printed characters (lower case, yupper case, numbers, letters :and punctuation) show that information -usable for conversion lto audible signals is concentratedat Vthe' aforementioned five levels. The `present `invention extracts yinfor-mation available at each of the'fvelevels lof Seach letter or character and integrates'it toa single quantity prior to translation to ae'sing'leaudible signal. iin particular a distinct single signal occurs for each letter with the exception of ambiguities that occur within character'groups d, 1h, le; n, u; T, Y; 4and 8, O. The invention further provides means for'diiferentiation 'between these characters so that their audible signals are clear'and distinctive. Y'

Ay primary object of the invention is to simplify the tus enablinganlimproved reading` machinejfor the .blind feasible. for .home use. I ,A

Another .object ofthe inventionis to provide a modieddirect ,translation type machine lfor converting printed characters into single audible signals which canvbe quickly and readily interpreted with a minimum amount vof train- An additional object of thefinvention is to provide-.a .device for converting-.the printed .characterfto an audible single signal including a .scanning means 'which receives and .integrates the sum total of signals fronra printed character at its various levels as it moves-relative thereto and transmits. yit .as a distinctiveA .sound frequency characteristic rof such printed character.

. Another .object of the invention .is -to provide a vreading machine orthe :like that for each printed character scanned will produce a single sound composition,;the

The inadequacies anddiicultiesattendant the develop- Vthe shape of such letter a single sound frequency composition characterizing that letter. v

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus for converting printed matter into audible signals possessing the advantageous structural features, the inherent meritorious characteristics and the mode of operation herein described.

' With these primary and other objects in view, as Will more fully appear in the specitcation, the invention intended to be protected by Letters Patent consists of the features of construction, the parts and combinations thereof, and the modeof operation as hereinafter described or illustrated in the accompanying drawing, or

their equivalent. Y v

Referring to the drawing wherein is found-one but obviously vnot necessarily the only form of embodiment of the invention:

The ligure is a schematic presentation of a practical embodiment of the invention. l

The invention can be best described with reference to the schematic diagram in the drawing illustrating itsem- .bodiment in a reading machine for the blind; All relays shown inthe drawings have their coils indicated by capital letters or Roman numerals while similar small letters or, Arabic numerals are employed to identify their various contacts. The coils'and the contacts `are schematically separated for clarity of disclosure. All contacts shown -in the drawings are in theirpnormal positions corresponding to a deenergized condition of the relays.

VThe text to be translated is applied to 16 mm. movie film in this instance with one letter being provided in each frame. This approximates the spacing of a typewriter. 'Ihe reader apparatus includes a stackhof vtive separate photocells P1 through P5, respectively at each of the tive levels at which the text is to be scanned.

When relay A is energized, its normally openucontacts a are closed so that relays B and D are also energized.

Suitable apparatus, the details of which are not pertinent to the present invention, is provided to move the lm across the ve photocells at a uniform yet adjustable speed.

The photocells Pl-PS are connected at one side to a source of power through one side of the power line L1. The outputs of the photocells are individually connected to separate relays I-V, respectively, through ampliliers which are not shown. 'Ihe relays I-V are mutually connected Vto theV other side L2 of the power line through a relay A. Relays B and D are lrespectively connected across the power line through contactsV a of the relay A which are normally open as shown. A capacitor C8 connects across the relay D for purposes to be described.

As the film is advanced a single frame, a letter moves past the stack of photocells. When a portion of the letter passes a cell, it causes that cell to produce a signal which is amplified and transmitted to energize its connected relay.l The relay A is 'energized together with any of the relays I-Y and remains energized for the duration of the letterv since due to the size andV shape of the mask openings atgthe photocells there is always at least one of the relays I-- V energized as long `as a letter is beingV scanned. At the end of the'l complete passage of each letterthe` relay A will obviously be deenergized. Y Y Y I On the termination of the signals Ifrom the photocells at the end of a letter, as relay A is deenergized, relay B is also deenergized but this occurs a short instant later following the opening of the contacts a. However, the capacitor C8 across relay D and connected to L2 discharges as the contacts a open to maintain the relay D in an energized condition for approximately the duration of a letter passing the photocells.

Five audio-frequency oscillators O1 to O5 `are provided with one being connected to each of the five photocell circuits. The outputs of these oscillators are suitably transmitted to a loudspeaker and tape recorder in the example illustrated. Connected in parallel across each of the oscillators to the input side are a pair of capacitors which are respectively identied as Cl-CS and C'1--C5, depending on the oscillator to which they are connected. The oscillators are individually connected to respective relaysI-V through their normally open contacts 1-5 respectively as shown in the schematic of the drawing. If, lat the beginning of the scanning of a word, any one of the relays I-V are energized, the appropriate contacts 1-5 close and start to trickle charge the corresponding connected capacitor C1-C5 through a resistor R15 interposed therebetween. The relays A, Band D are connected in each of the oscillator circuitsthrough contacts a, b and d, respectively. Thezcontactsl a and b shown in their normal positions whenA the relays A and B are deenergized normally close vshort `circuits around capacitors C11-5 and open these short circuits as relays A and B are energized.l The relay contacts d of relay D normally close a short circuit around the' capacitors C1-5. V

At the end of the first letter in the word being scanned, the-relays I--V are deenergized while relay B remains energized for a short instant. This delay causes the contacts a and b to connect the capacitors C1-5 and C'1--5 -in their respective circuits. The potentials accumulated in each of the capacitors C1--5 by trickle charging are -thenimpressed on the capacitors C1-5, which are smaller. `On the energizing of the relay D, the contacts d served to open short circuits around the capacitors C1--5 Ato enable the transfer of thetrickle charges as indicated. As relay B follows relay A and deenergizes, the contacts b return to normal closing short circuits around the capacitors C1-5. The latter having been discharged are now ready to receive the trickle charges .developed 4by the photocells as the next letter passes thereby. The capacitors C1--5 are not discharged at this point since the relay D remains energized due to the discharge of capacitor C8 as contacts a of relay A return to ltheir normal open condition. 'I he potential in the individual capacitors C'l-r-S represents the grid potential of the oscillators connected thereto. y

For simplicity, it can be assumed that the grid potential represents and determines the volume of audio frequency of each oscillator and the grid current'is relatively small considering the capacity of the capacitors C1-5. At the momenti the potential of the capacitors C1-5 is impressed on the capacitors Cl-S, the tive oscillators .begin to sound,-each with an amplitude according to its grid potential. The outputs of the oscillators are integrated and delivered as a single composition through the speaker provided. The composite output thus effected :represents and is characteristic` of the letter previously scanned. A y lWhile thesound is being delivered to the'ear, the capacitors C1-5 which have been discharged are again beingtrickle charged in a similar manner by signals produced, fromgtheir respective connected photocells as the next letter or printed character isl being scanned. The sound -of the f first letter continues while these capacitors accumulate -the complete charges characteristic of the letter being scanned at the various levels; .As

' .annessa following letter ,passesthe photocells, the lrespective components .of vthe photocell circuits function as in-the Afirst instance and the new potentials of -the capacitors C1- 5 are respectively impressed on the capacitors C1-5 This effects a change in the volume produced by the :oscillators `since their respective grid potentials are thereby changed. r-Ifhe .output =.of the .system is immediately changed for .the duration of time necessary to pass another letter before the photocells to produce a single sound composition `characteristic of, the second letter scanned. `Thisy procedure continues for each letter in .a word being scanned until the sound characteristic of the `last letter is kbeing lput forth. Since there is a .space yinterval following the printed word, the relay A remains deenergized for a periodgreater than the duration of a ,letter and this causes .the -relay ,Dto .become deenergized also. This causes contacts d to return to their normal lcondition short circuiting capacitors C'1-5 to silence the machine until `the rst letter in the next sequence has been scanned. s

It will beobvious that during the conversionof each word tosound frequencyvcompositions distinctive for' each letter that there will be Va continuity of sound ,changing distinctively following the scanning of each letter. Thus, a phonetic reproduction of vthe word obtains `which while bearingno resemblance to English neverthegf fless presents a structure which people .can be easily trained to recognize due fto theisound formulation. y

Referring to theblock sections X, Y and Z outlined in vthegschematic of` the accompanying drawing, refinements are provided thereby forfincreasing the .distinctiveness of the sounds produced to represent letters and words and 'eliminating ambiguities. eThe section X schematically represents means lincorporated for .removing ambiguous scanning results between the :letters such as .b, h; .and u, n. This is accomplished by utilizing .the interruption `occuring yin 4signal transmission :from photocell P2 during .its vscanning of the base of the letters h and n. YA .second coil I2 onthe relay .I .and .relay E are added Vand connected across the power line to the .photocell circuits. 'Ihe contacts e of relay E are normally open and contacts -a and 2 -of relays .A 4and ll normally .provide that the circuit to relays E and yI2 .are normally open. Wheneverl relay II is energized at the beginning of a letter, .relayiA is certain to b e energized and contacts a and 2 close the circuit toA energize relay E. When relay II returns to normal -due to ,the interruption inthe scanning -level of photocellV P2, the contacts 2 will be disposed to energize relay I through energization of the coil I2 since the contacts e are closed to complete a circuit through I2. The relay I will thus be artificially energized for the duration of the interruption in the scanning level of photocell P2 toproduce a short signal through the level of photocellwhich is a'idditiv'ely imposed on theV oscillator O51. vThis additive signal-suffices to clearly distinguish letters 'h and b and n c and uIto remove all ambiguities in Athe. relative 'translation thereof. This type ofV device can be used to 'distin- Iguis'hcharacters in any instance desired in a manner now Ibelieved clearlyobvious.

The section Y .of the schematic illustrates means where- :by vertical 'bars rin the printed letter -or character can be audibly recognized.- Forthis purpose additional capacitor C6 and .relatively smaller .capacitor-C6 are interposed between series related contacts 1-4-of relays I---IV` and the oscillator output. vcapacitor C.6 while additional contacts a .and b of relays A and B are connected to normally short circuit around capacitor C6 and open the circuit between C6 and C'6. Inthe .example shown, a :series of four .make` contacts 1914 `will .close .simultaneously on the .photocells scanning p, ,g, -g, .and i (j vcan be leliminated by adding a break contact of relay V to the series) to passcurrent to charge C6. This-will of course voccur as the vertical bar sectionsof thesevletters are scanned. .At the end of the A resistor R6 is placed across scanningf of such .a letter, relay -immediatelyde energized. while relay B `remains energized .for .ai hert instant, permitting v`thepotential -frorn;.C6 to V:be passed .and impressed -on CC6. Due `to Rfl, Ct .cannot .hold the charge received at .the end of-theletter. y The potential A`of C.6 is .thus vbriefly. used to .boostfthe combined .output of the individual oscillatorcircuits and 11116 trapiti .decrease of this potential .which-necessarily results gives. .the letters p, .q .and .j a Vdistinctive. quality of a f .plosive in vits .sound translation. Q; s v l l.

The section Z facilitates the .memorizing of sound sequences characteristic. .of entire words based .on a somewhat junusual conceptfor the formation Yof syllables. It must .be .cautioned at point .that ;ease. .-ofvzword recognition here vis not ,depedeuton .the machines ability to read out vowels as vowels vand consonantsfas .consonants, but on a synthetic syllabizing. 'Regardless ofthe synthetic interpretation ofwords `,as sounds whichibear `no resemblance to English,-if:their.machinenconsistently produces thelsamelsoundsyllables 4for theglsamefrwords every timeshe wordsgarelread and soundd,an .of Y

word recognition derivestherefrom infpractice.v v/

The invention. provdeS itfin Ca'h wor .flic oddllettersv are made Ltosound. more/like consonants while the even letters are relatively caused to sound like vowels. Todo this, the relays Fand G are addedfacross er line a iiip-ilop .arrangement, ractu'ated the rcnntacts aof relay A, the normally .open contact .dfof relayyD serving .to close the circuit to the relays@ Iand LG onenergization Atherelay Di." vItuwill be seen; from fobservationlof thesehematic that gasirelay A Vis ,enervgized, D is.,a1so ene rgized'and the.'.'contac:tsf .d an a will dispose themselves" to Aenergize yrelay F whereupon f .the contacts f of relay F will close. relay A deenerg'z'es at the endAV of tli'e .rst,letterscanned,.relay F .remains energized to the continued energizationfof-the relay D .by C3.. relay-Gisenergized at point .as ,a circuitl is 'completed .thereto .through fcontacts d [.andlf. When 'relay A is energized. again l as .the photocells ,are scanning the second .letter `in the word, r,e1ay G remains energized while vrelay F is deenergized. As relay.A .fis deenergized following the :scanning ofthe second` letter, both relays F and .G are deenergized and 'thesequence starts all over again in .a manner .believed readily .obvious with reference tothe schematics rIhus, whenrelay `F is .energized ,and relay G is. denergized, a circuit is provided to a capacitor'C7 connected to l.theloutputfof vthe machine. The capacitor C7 is nonnally shorted by the contactsa: and b of the-relaysA and flfand: fis charged when .the relays `A and F are energized .andthe relay. G remains tdeenergized. VThe charge of C7 is .transferred -to C7 atthecompletionof .the .scanning of the letter as relays A and .B are deenerg'ized. and .is .imposed on lthe output ofthe oscillators 0'1-5 to .add `a hissing .sound .to `their combined,output',andfthus .produce a synthetic consonant. 'This will occurvl only for thegodd flettersfin the word since .this is the .only period :Fis encrgizedand G is deenergized. i LIt must be .noted .that in feach instance the relays :ern- .ployed may be replaced ,by electronic `equivalents such astubes or transistors. 5U

Thus, it mayzbe readily seen that not onlyY does. the invention efectively Yprovide .a means :for Vconvertingthe printed letter into a single,distinctivezcompositionof soundfrequences .but it does so in a simpleandecenpmical manner. As .a matter of fact, `any printed ycharacter may `-be encompassed within vthe ve basic -levelswhich afford `the most'pertinent .information for distinguishing it from .other characters, and such can vbe distinctively converted ,to an audible .sound frequency composition in accordance with the invention. Further, a synthetic audible representation of each word is Yenabled by the continued varying sound frequency compositions v.provided by the audio-frequency oscillators as ,the succeeding letters of each word are movedthereby.

'eation ofthe-:inventive system to remove possible am- "b'guities in the sound representations andto syllabize words lwith special'sound effects reducesA the training necessary to eciently interpret the sound frequency compositions to anabsolut'e minimum. The present in- 'ventiou' at least'triples the actual reading speed possible with 'available machines for processing the printed word andtransmitting it yas representative sounds.`

It'should be observed that the invention is readily applicable and adaptable as a readerlor converter of any v*form of imprint'to'transcribe it to representative coded sound in a clear and' unambiguous fashion.

'While amplitude modulation has 'been specified in the disclosure of an illustrative embodiment of the invention herein, frequency modulation may be inter- 'changably employed as long as the' basic inventive con- ;efptsare retaied- `Fro'rintheabove description it will be apparent that there is thus provided 'a device of the :character described possessingthe particular` features of advantage before enumerated as' desirable', buty wlzrchjobviously'A is susceptible of modification in its' form, proportions, `detail construction 'jand arrangementfof" parts Without departing fr'orn the principle involved or sacrificing any of 'its' ad- I I I I While in order to comply with the statute the invention has been described in language more or less specic as to structural features, it is v`tobe understood thatV the invention is not limited tothespecic features shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed comprises an illustrative form of 'several modes of'put'- ting the invention into'etfect and the invention is therefore claimed in anyv of its forms or. modifications within the legitimate and valid scope of the appended claims. 'i Having thus described my inventionfl clairn: 'Y

1. A machine foraudibly translating printed matter including, means for consecutively scanning the printed characters for each word at various levels and extracting the individuall characteristics thereof, means for convertng'said characteristics of each character of the Word being Vscanned to electrical quantities, means responsive to the receipt of said electrical quantities forproducing a single distinct sound for each character scanned and means connected with said scanning means `and super-imposing an"elect'rical quantity on said means vresponsive to1v said electrical quantities to artificially syllabizeV eachwordscanned.

2. Apparatusfor scanningprint and reproducing it in audible distinctive form including, sensing means for scanning a character Yof print at different levels and'pro'- ducing outputs as long as a section of the character exposed 'at their 'respective-levels, transmitting means connected with said -sensing means energized as longA` as a portion of the character is being sensed thereby, fre lay means connected with said` transmitting meansland energized as long as'any'portionof the character isexposed to said sensing means, means for storing a potential proportional to the energization interval of' each of said transmitting means, capacitor means, audio frequency oscillators, at'least'a portion ofsaid relay means connecting vbetween said respective potential lstoring means g and capacitor means and operative to provide 'a transfer of potential therebetween on: completion'io'f the scanning of a character energizing said-audio frequency `oscillators thereby; and means for integrating the out.'- puts 'of said oscillators intofa single sound frequency 'composition distinctive of thecharacter scanned. I 3., Apparatus forscanning print and reproducing1 it 'as distinctive V'sound comprising, photo-'sensing elements for scanning'each successive character of print at diierent levels'to determine the lengthy` of the character at the respective levelsand' reproducing signals Iduring the exposure of sections of the character at 'the different levels, means connected to theelements at each level individually energized as long as the connected element is sensing the :character atgthatlevel, means connected to each of said encrgiiz'able'means for integrating a potential proportional to the interval of energiz'ation thereofv during the com- ,plete scanning of a character, audio frequency devices,

'4.' Apparatus for converting lprinted text to audible rform including, light sensitive means for sensing the shape of text characters, lmeans energized by said sensing means as long as a character is exposed thereto, means connected'with said energized means for storing a potential developed thereby in proportion to the signalsfrom said energized means,V additional storage means, and means operative onv deenergizing of saidenergized means to effect a transfer of said stored potential to said additional storage-means and soundingmeans connected to said additional storage means producing a sound frequency `composition according to the potential therein.

" 5.*A- readingmachine including, light sensitive means for straight line scanning of printed characters in Vcorrsecutive fashion in different levels of observation, a ca- 'pacitor for leach of said levels, meansoperatively connecting each capacitor with said lightl sensitive means for storing a charge therein'in proportion to the degree of exposure of a character at each level, a second group of capacitor-s, means connected with saidoperatively connecting'means' and between said rst mentioned capacitors and the second group of capacitors and operative to discharge each of said rst mentioned capacitors and impress the potential therefrom on the connected capacitors of the second group on completion of the scanning of the "character, means connected to each of said second group of capacitors to convert the potential lthereof to sound frequencies and means integrating said sound frequencies to form 'a single sound frequency composition distinctive of thecharacters'c'anned.

6. Reading 'apparatus for sensing print and converting it to sound includingmeans for successive scanning of print characters' and transmitting signals characteristic of their shape,'rr'1'eans connected to said scanning means for receiving the signals and respectively converting them to apotential7 means connected to said receiving means and energized byl the potential developed for each character during scanning thereof to naturally produce a composite single'sou'n'd composition characteristic of the character scanned and means connected to A, said scanning means for automatically adding signals to artificially modify the sound characteristic of ambiguous characters to clearly differentiate them. l

7. `Reading apparatus forsensing print and converting it -togsound including, means for successively scanning print characters and transmitting signals characteristic of their shape at various levels, storage means connected to' said scanningmeans converting the signals therefrom to electrical potential, means connected to said storage means and energized by the potential developed for each character of print scanned on completion of scanning thereof to produce a single composite sound characteristic of the character of p rint scanned andv means connected with said scanning means and operative to discharge said storage meanst on vcompletion of the-scanning ofeach character of print and condition it to s'to're the potential developed on scanning ofthe succeeding character of print while the sound characteristic of the'lrst character is being sounded. j

8.*The structure'set forth in claim 7 and means connected to said scanning means imposing a consonant characteristic on the sound delivered representing the odd characters'ineach word.

9. The structure set forth in claim 7 and means automatially responsive tothe scanning of a character having a vertical bar as a component of its shape for imposing a plosive effect in its sound translation.

10. Apparatus for converting the printed word to audible sound including, scanning means responsive to relative straight line movement between it and the printed word for transmitting signals indicative of the shape of gized by the potential in said secondary storage means 15 2,817,706

and means integrating the output of such sounding means producing a single sound composition continuing during the scanning of the next letter, and means for effecting a continuing sound output for the word modified distinctively following the scanning of each letter of the word, interrupted by the completion of a word.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,420,716 Morton May 20, 1947 2,451,014 Zworykin Oct. 12, 1948 2,517,102. Flory Aug. 1, 1950 2,616,983 Zworykin Nov. 4, 1952 Pantages Dec. 24, 1957 

